IEEE 802.11ad is an extension to the Wi-Fi wireless standard that uses a 60 GHz radio frequency (RF) band. The frequency band is 56-64 GHz in the US, and 56-66 GHz in Europe. It allows digital data to be transmitted over a link at rates of multiple gigabits per second.
One issue with 60 GHz technology is that 60 GHz Wi-Fi modules have a very different range than Wi-Fi a/b/g/n modules. This is due to the much shorter wavelength of the signals (5 mm) and the high absorption by air for 60 GHz RF. Furthermore, many materials either reflect 60 GHz RF (e.g. most building materials such as metal, concrete, or wood) or absorb 60 GHz RF (e.g. the human body).This means that the effective range of 60 GHz signals with the allowed RF power output is of the order of several meters at most. But in order to make even that range possible, beam forming has to be used, i.e. the 60 GHz antenna system must be directional, and there must be a line-of-sight path between transmitter and receiver. Directionality is achieved by separately setting the gain and phase to/from each antenna (for transmitting/receiving respectively). These coefficients can also be set such that a less directional or even quasi-omnidirectional transmit/receive pattern is obtained. The noise margin is less when using a less narrow beam, but that can be compensated for by lowering the bit rate (i.e. use symbols of longer duration and/or use less symbols, e.g. 16 QAM instead of 64 QAM).
US 2012/0274208 discloses a lighting device which includes a radio transceiver chip, and discloses that one band which may be used for radio communications (amongst others) is a 60 GHz band. The radio transceiver is mostly used to receive control signals from a remote control, but can also be used so that the lighting device can transmit “tele management” signals to other lighting devices in the vicinity. Nonetheless, US 2012/0274208 fails to recognize any particular usefulness of the 60 GHz band over and above any other radio band in the context of lighting.